Dirty Weekend Likely For Mud Runners

Mud features prominently in this weekend's fixtures. Race titles such as Brutal Run; Wild Night Run and Mud Bath 10K say it all as the health giving properties of the sticky stuff will be examined by hundreds of intrepid and adventurous runners across the south and west of England.

The obvious place to start this preview is with the separate gender Brutal Runs for men and women at Greenham Common, Thatcham, Berkshire on Saturday (28 January). According to the Brutal Run website, so called 'Brutaleers' can expect that: “These events will make you wish you had never taken up exercise. Each event only uses natural obstacles. You'll encounter water, mud, uneven ground, hills and more hills”.

There are two distances to choose from, either one lap of 5k or two laps totalling 10k. The women only race starts at 10am and the men's race goes off at 1pm – the same time as the free to enter Kids Mini Brutal. Some washing machines are going to be doing overtime!

Night owls might like to try the dark arts of the Wild Night Run at South Brent, Devon or the more sedate sounding Glow Run 5K from Bournemouth Pier on Saturday. Wild Night Run is actually the collective name for a series of West Country after dark events, with Saturday's offer being The Moonlight Flit – either 10k or half marathon including the notorious Postbox Hill climb and infamous Charcoal Burners descent.

There can be no doubt about the main aims of the Mud Bath 10K at Pipley Wood, Bath on Sunday. Described on the event website as: “A muddy trail race with post race bonfire, beer and hog roast”, the 10k or 5k adult course and 2K Mini Mud Bath all include the ever popular mud slide and among the helpful advice for competitors is to bring a change of clothes!

As always full details of this weekend's events and much further ahead are available on the runABC race listingsonline here or in the essential My Next Race guide in the magazine, sponsored by White Star Running.